Amex launches fast digital checkouts but don't call it a mobile wallet
NEW YORK — You've heard an awful lot lately about digital wallets.
American Express wants you to think of the Amex Express Checkout digital commerce solution that it is launching today for card holders as the "anti-wallet."
That's the term the financial giant's vice president of global product development Dave Wolf used to describe the new payments feature, which is essentially a fast and, American Express will tell you, secure way to complete an online or mobile transaction.
"We've heard from customers and merchants that there is a big big opportunity still despite all of the wallets out there to make that online and mobile checkout experience better," Wolf says. "To reduce friction and make it more seamless to get people through that journey quicker."
Here's how It works. If you're already an Amex card member there is no need to set up a new account, the big difference here, American Express claims. If you're not a cardholder, you will have to become one.
Then when you see an Amex Express Checkout button at a participating online shopping site, click that button and log in with the same user ID online and password that you may use to log into the AmericanExpress.com website to pay a bill or to launch the Amex app on your phone. Wolf says tens of millions of Amex cardholders already have such credentials and are ready to go.
Amex auto-fills the all typical checkout fields (shipping address, billing, etc.) encrypts the sensitive data, and sends it along as a "token" to the merchant to authorize and complete the transactions. It's supposed to happen in seconds. You'll get any rewards points that are due you, just like any other card purchase.
From the consumer perspective, of course, the idea of a fast checkout isn't entirely novel. For years now, Amazon customers for example have been able to take advantage of 1-Ciick ordering.
At their end, merchants participating in the new Amex solution don't have to change how they process a sale. It looks to them like any other American Express transaction.
American Express has lined up BarkBox, Burberry, Ledbury, Newegg, Sabon, Ticketmaster, Warby Parker and The Wall Street Journal as launch partners. To encourage you to try the new checkout feature, Amex will issue a one-time $10 statement credit per merchant when you shop at a participating merchant between now and Sept 7.
Amex says other online merchants are to follow in the coming months, including Athleta, Avis Car Rental, Banana Republic, Cole Haan, Hulu, Gap, Intermix, Old Navy, POPSUGAR Must Have, Rocketmiles, Tory Burch, and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM .
American Express is also teaming up with payments processing company Stripe to help other merchants integrate Amex Checkout into their sites.
"This is really geared towards creating new customer relationships for those merchants," Wolf says, who can store your card information on file.
Of course online shoppers who don't want to use their American Express credentials at a participating site online always have the freedom to use some other form of payment.